Gripping their Hearts
by RandomGhostie
Summary: A choice had to be made in a split second by the head gamemaker, one which his life could depend on. Have two victors that year, or have none. The latter was chosen. For the eighty-fifth Hunger Games, Finnick Odair has a plan.
1. Prologue

The Hunger Games have been going on for around eighty five years now. Many people remember the type of arenas, many people remember certain horrible deaths but not many remember all the tributes. Even some of the victors are forgotten as the new games roll around each year taking two tributes from each District and throwing them into combat.

Each District will remember those who had been taken, but the Capitol will easily forget the bloodbath tributes. People remember which Districts have won the most and which ones never have a chance of winning. Usually if you asked any of the Capitol what happened ten years ago within the games all they would be able to remember were maybe the victors.

But every single person remembers one year.

The year a choice had to be made in a split second by the head gamemaker, one which his life could depend on.

Have two victors that year, or have **none**.

A love story which gripped the Capitol, all of them knew that only one could win but some began to make petitions for both of them to win. The Capitol had never been so attached, so gripped to a pair of tributes. But a decision had to be made.

The latter was chosen.

But since that year there have been no new tributes to grip the hearts of the Capitol, the sponsors don't just go for the careers they go for the other Districts just in case they were to get far. The Capitol is praying for a year with another pair to grip their hearts.

For the eighty-fifth Hunger Games, Finnick Odair has a plan.


	2. The Reaping

Opening his eyes Seamus Irving couldn't help but wince at the bright sunlight which burst through the curtain-less window. An expected sound of waves crashing upon the sunkissed sand filled his ears as he let out a small yawn. Glancing over to the bed on the other side of the room, Seamus smiled just a little watching his younger brother roll around in his slumber.

With only two bedrooms within his tiny house, well more like a shed, Seamus had to share a tiny room with his brother. He didn't mind though, it made the room warmer on those cold nights. There were no curtains to block out the sun in the morning; the windows had gaps in them which the cold air seemed to seep through on those cold days. The beds the family slept on weren't even really beds; they were just old worn out mattresses that had a few colourful blankets on them to sleep under. There was no soft carpet on the floor on the house, just cold wooden planks and on the walls the wallpaper from many years ago was torn.

The rest of the house wasn't much better.

Usually right now Seamus would be grabbing any old clothes and getting ready for a boring day at school. But today was different, it was reaping day. He would have to get more dressed up than usual, wear those clothes which he only saved for special occasions. His family was a poor one, they didn't have much and they had to treasure everything that was good.

Seamus' father worked for one of the rich men in District 4, Mr Irving would go out to sea on a little boat with a fellow worker and try and catch the right types of fish. He would then bring them back to his boss and get some money for it. However, men who had more money to spend on a better boat would of course bring back more fish than Mr Irving which resulted in him earning less money.

While Seamus' mother worked in a clothing shop where she made items for the rich residents of District 4, she however worked from home. She didn't earn much and recently she had been earning even less due to the condition of his younger brother.

They were a poor family, one of the poorest in the District they guessed. So when Joey got seriously ill the whole family had to pull together and try to get the money to make him better. Seamus went fishing with his father on Saturdays and Sundays to try and get more fish, while that made up more money for the family they lost a bit because his mother stopped working to look after Joey.

And now here they were, Joey had slowly begun to get better and was now well enough to return to school. But today there would be no school for him to return to, it was mandatory that everyone attended the reaping.

Walking over to the handmade wardrobe, Seamus took out some clothes he would call 'neat' apart from the obvious tares at the bottom. He grabbed a clean t-shirt and the blazer to put over the top and proceeded to get dressed. Running his hand through his messy brunette locks, Seamus looked into the cracked mirror and forced himself to smile.

"What time is it?"A quiet voice behind him piped up. Seamus turned around from the mirror and watched his little brother push himself up from his mattress. His brother looked like a mini version of himself, although he was a lot cuter. Seamus watched his brother flicker his baby blue eyes open and look over to the wardrobe.

Joey had eyes which could get you to do anything he wanted, baby blue and bright. Full of life, even after the deathly illness the boy still seemed to have some light behind those eyes. While Seamus was stuck with dull, boring brown eyes. Nothing special.

"Around six in the morning I'm guessing" Seamus said turning back to the mirror running a hand through his hair. "Get dressed, mom'll be calling us for breakfast soon" Seamus smiled to his brother before leaving the joint bedroom.

Just as he expected, his mother was making breakfast. She had four piece of bread on a sort of grill like metal piece over a fire. There were berries in a bowl on the side and a few other fruits. The normal breakfast.

"Where's dad?" Seamus asked walking further into the room, his mother turned around. A piece of her hair fell in front of her eyes and she quickly brushed away before giving her son a warm smile. She then turned back to the bread watching it carefully.

"He's outside on the beach. You should go get him, breakfast will be ready soon you know." Seamus nodded once to his mother, she was a kind woman. She would do anything for her family and wanted to always keep them safe, that was probably one of the reasons she never made the annual hunger games out to be something amazing.

Walking out the house, Seamus' feed immediately felt the hot sand. It was always a positive of living right on the beach. Walking out towards the sea, Seamus noticed a figure sat on a rock near the docks. Wondering over, Seamus took a seat on a rock next to his father who looked down to watch his eldest son for a moment before looking back out to the sea.

"I hate today, the nervous feeling that one of your children could be chosen eats away at you." Mr Irving suddenly stated.

"And the fact I don't have a lot of time to fish. Less money for the family" He continued glancing over to Seamus with a small smile on his lips. He then turned back to the sea picking up a small stone and throwing it into the water. Once it plopped, Mr Irving turned to his son and nodded once.

"Look after your brother at the reaping, you'll be closer to him than me and your mother" He said getting up from the rock and stretching his arms. Seamus nodded letting himself smile wide before getting up from the rock and doing the same.

"Sure will dad, if he looks ill I'll tell one of the peacekeepers" Seamus said turning around and walking towards their home. They would have to have breakfast and get ready before leaving for the mornings reaping.

At the exact same time Seamus and Mr Irving began to walk back to their house, a girl in the rich part of District Four was awakening to the sound of water running.

;

;

Flickering her baby blue eyes open on the other side of District Four, Orabelle Ula was just waking up to the sound of her mother yelling up the stairs to her. It suddenly dawned on the seventeen year old that today was the day of the reapings. She quickly shot up from her bed and glanced around the large, neat room before pushing the covers aside and getting off her bed.

Although the reaping would mean a day off school she still wanted to get ready to look her best. It was very unlikely that she would be reaped, but even so, she wanted to dance around in a pretty dress and make the other girls wish they were her. Looking into the mirror, Orabelle let out a long sigh before grabbing the nearest brush and running it through her auburn hair.

"Orabelle darling, are you awake? We need to get you ready for the reaping along with your brother and sister" Mrs Ula called down in a sweet tone, Orabelle shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Yes mother I am up! Just brushing my hair" After a few more tugging of the brush Orabelle sat the item down on the table and looked into the mirror running her fingers across her cheeks. No blemishes, just many freckles covering her cheeks and nose. Finally after checking her face she jumped up and walked out of her room and down the steps.

At the bottom there was the kitchen, a woman was stood in there cooking a breakfast for the family. Orabelle nodded to her quickly and once before walking into the dining room and taking a seat opposite her mother.

"We'll just keep your hair simple for the reaping, something which would just compliment the dress we picked yesterday" Mrs Ula said, she was looking between her two daughters and only son. Orabelle glanced to her little sister, Vivianna, she was looking at two dresses on one of the big chairs.

While sat at the other end of the table was her older brother, Nereus, he was looking through a book he had recently gotten. Her brother was in some smart clothes, he would be watching with Mr and Mrs Ula.

Mr Ula walked into the room and took a seat clapping his hands once before looking over to the maid and cook for the family, she came in with a big breakfast for each of the family members. Breakfast was silent; then again most meals were within the Ula household. Occasionally Orabelle and Vivianna would chat about situations at school or a dress they had seen and liked. But other than that the table was silent, at the end of the meal they would chat freely for a while before going their separate ways.

Today, Orabelle finished her breakfast but went straight up to her room. She had to be perfect for the reaping's, what if she were picked? It was highly unlikely but she couldn't help but think that if she was picked she would need to look beautiful, stunning, breathtaking.

She picked up the sea blue dress and slipped it on with matching shoes. Walking over to the mirror she twirled around once checking the dress and each part of it. Orabelle grinned to herself, it was _perfect_.

A knock at the door jolted her from the mirror; she spun around and looked to her mother who stood with a blue ribbon in her hand. Walking over silently, she began to tie the ribbon in a knot before grabbing a small hair pin and sliding the bow into place on the top of her hair.

"You look wonderful darling; we have around twenty minutes until it will be time to go so make sure you have everything." Orabelle nodded once giving Mrs Ula a confident smile. As her mother walked out the door, Orabelle wondered over closing it slowly before letting out a small sigh.

She loved her life; she loved every bit of it. The fact she was in a rich family, a family which was respected by the whole District. She was almost like a celebrity, everyone knew who she was. Then there was her looks, she was your typical District 4 beauty. She was within the most popular girls group at her school, she was desirable. As she pondered about her life a sudden rock hit her window.

Spinning around, Orabelle walked over to the window and opened it looking down to see three of her closest friends. The four of them were the most popular girls within the school so of course they would stick together. She grinned down to them as they all stood in beautiful dresses of different colours.

"Belle! Walk to the reaping with us, we can have a gossip!" Marella yelled up, she was smiling wide with Irvette and Brooke. Nodding once, Orabelle had one last glance around her room before closing the window and walking down to where her family were.

"I'm gonna go with the others down to the reaping, we need to chat." She watched as her father and mother nodded once before turning back to their youngest daughter. Orabelle just shrugged and headed to the door walking out and slamming it shut.

Running over to her friends, Orabelle grinned brushing out her dress once before walking along with her best friends. They chatted for a little while, just about the reaping and boys of interest. They had around twenty minutes left until they would have to make their way to the reaping so they decided to walk the long way. If they got there early at least they would be at the front.

"I doubt any of us would get reaped. And even if we did we would win the crowd over with our beauty. It'd be fine." Irvette said kicking a small rock on the floor before smiling to the others in a cheesy smile. Orabelle wasn't the leader of the group, that went to Marella who seemed to just naturally lead them all.

Orabelle was the sporty one; she was in the top ten of the whole class in athletics. Brooke was the quiet one; she'd silently judge a situation then give her opinion. While Irvette was naive, girly giggles and battering her eyelashes to get what she wanted.

"Irvie, you do know you have to be skilled to win these games right? Otherwise you'd just get killed when the careers turned on you" Brooke said rolling her eyes a little and running a hand through her hair.

"Brooke does have a point, but besides that I think we would all be good in the games you know?" Marella said glancing to the others and flashing that award winning smile she had. They all had award winning smiles, but hers was one which was known by _all_. Orabelle watched her friend for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

"What do you mean El?"

"Well the way I see it is, we would all bring something to the careers which in turn could lead us to victory. I would be the obvious leader, take the team on you know? Then kill them all in their sleep one by one. Brooke would use her smarts; she'd be silent but deadly. She could easily win those games on her brain. Irvie would batter her pretty little eyelashes to get the boys to fall in love with her then do whatever she wanted. Then she'd trick them into killing themselves or something." Marella listed, she stopped for a moment and turned to Orabelle watching her for a few moments.

"And you Belle, well. You're the most athletic girl in the whole class. You have skills with a trident, if you weren't rich and popular you'd be one of those ones who volunteered you know? Plus you have some brain, it could help."

Orabelle watched the others for a few moments before nodding to herself and looking forward. Was Marella saying that out of all of them she was most likely to win the games? Suddenly a sense of protection came over her, what if one of them were reaped? She would feel protection; she might even be pushed to volunteer for them. She knew that she would volunteer for her little sister, or for Brooke but Irvette and Marella? She couldn't be too sure.

"Come on, we better get going. We don't want to be stuck by those idiot girls do we?" Orabelle harshly said sniggering a little at the thought of those girls who wished to be them but of course could not be.

Walking as fast as they could, the girls got to the reaping as a crowd began to gather. Other children were already in the pens, the time was drawing closer.

Seamus and his family got there just in time; he slotted Joey into the right pen before racing off to his own. One thing Seamus did not want was an angry peacekeeper on his case.

Everything began to go silent, on the stage sat the mayor of District Four, the escort and of course the two mentors. Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta. They were sitting very close together, Annie was shaking and Finnick was glancing to her every so often whispering soothing words.

Next to them sat the escort, a woman whose skin was a golden yellow colour. Her hair was long, tall and a bright yellow. She was clapping her hands together and jumping up and down on the spot excitedly, her name was Peaches Honeyblossom.

The mayor gave his speech, a boring, long, predictable speech which most of the crowd tuned out on. They would only listen to the last few lines then cheer loudly for their District, District pride was essential. And then, Peaches skipped up to the microphone giggling and jeering on the crowd.

"Are we going to have a winner this year!" She cried getting back a very positive response, cheers and wolf whistles. She loved it. And then came the time for the reaping, the actually part where a name was taken out a bowl and read out to the crowd. Most the time in this District, people would volunteer so a name would hardly ever be read out. But if there was one read out, how fast they approached the stage would give the others an idea of if they actually wanted to go through with this.

Standing at the microphone, Peaches slowly pulled out a name from the bowl. It was the females turn. She giggled a little more, an obnoxious annoying giggle which got on the nerves of many. Opening the slip of paper she grinned clapping her hands then reading out the name to the microphone.

"**Orabelle Ula**"

_"What... My name my... Me... But the girls..." _Orabelle glances to her friends, their faces were pale and their eyes were wide. None of them were going to volunteer for her.

_"Bitches..." _She pushed through the crowd quickly and got to the front of her age group, she walked out the pen and up to the stage in strong strides. People began to cheer; she tried to soften her face as she walked up there. Peaches was jumping up and down, obviously excited by the whole thing.

Getting onto the stage and looking out to the crowd was a weird feeling, but it felt kind of good to Orabelle. Getting all the attention, everyone cheering for her. She smirked a little, glancing around at the crowd. And then, it hit her. She had an idea.

Before Peaches could ask her to say anything, Orabelle pulled out the blue bow in her hair and pulled it apart so it was just a long piece of ribbon. She pulled back her hair and tied it in a tight ponytail. Stepping forward and putting her mouth close to the microphone, she looked out to everyone in the crowd before giving a confident smile.

"I'm ready" After those two words were uttered a humongous cheer burst through the area. Orabelle couldn't help but smirk a little more as she stepped back and glanced around the crowd. It hadn't fully dawned on her what would actually be happening, that she would be fighting for her life.

She glanced over to Peaches who was now pulling out a name from the boys bowl, tapping her food Orabelle wanted this to be over so she could chat to the mentors and even Peaches. She wanted to be ready for whatever would face her.

"Joey Jones!" Within the crowd of seventeen year old boys, a head snapped up. Seamus Jones' head snapped up and his eyes widened as the crowd went silent. He was known in District Four for being poor, he was known for his brother's illness. Seamus watched as his little brother began to step out, he was pale as anything. Shaking, he was ill.

His father's words echoed in his head.

_"Look after your brother at the reaping"_

"I volunteer!" It wasn't meant to come out so desperate. He was meant to sound confident but he sounded terrified. Seamus pushed through the pen getting to the front and walking out. He ran over to where his brother was and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Get back to the pen" Seamus said, ignoring his brother as he yelled out for him to stop. Seamus walked to the stage glancing around; no other boys seemed to be as eager to volunteer. As he walked up the steps Seamus couldn't help but feel slightly nervous.

All the eyes were on him, a lump was in his throat as he began to walk to the microphone. Peaches was smiling wide, clapping her hands and being overall annoying.

"And what is your name?" She asked putting a hand on his shoulder, she turned to the cameras and flashed them a big grin.

"**Seamus Jones**. And I am going to win the games for my brother" He firmly said, a hint of nervousness could be heard in his voice. The crowd began to cheer and clap their hands. Seamus turned around to look at Orabelle. They watched one another for a few moments before glancing opposite ways.

While behind them sat Finnick and Annie, Finnick was watching the two tributes trying to block out the cheering. He noticed the type of outfits the two of them were wearing.

Orabelle was in posh clothing, posh shoes, she reeked elegance and obviously came from the best side of District four. As he recalled, she was one of the big business men's daughter.

While Seamus was in clothes which were torn, they were dirty, he volunteered for a ill looking boy. He was obviously from the poor side of District four.

Then it clicked. His plan could fall into place easily. Maybe the District Twelve tributes years back were in love, but it didn't mean love couldn't be faked. A love story of two tributes from the same District but different worlds. The poor and the rich. Finnick allowed himself to smile just a little as he watched the District Four tributes.

His plan of getting them both out was falling into place. He wasn't going to win with one tribute this year; he was going to win with _**two**_.

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it. Please review with feedback and improvements, they will be very greatly appreciated.<p> 


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